FAQs

Everything you may want to know about Naotkamegwanning Mazina’igan and the push for its creation and continuation

1. What is the point of having a regular newspaper?

• A one-stop shop for everything happening in the surrounding community
• Better gather, inform, showcase and enhance regional communication
• Create an independent accessible space to showcase facts, achievements, experiences, and concerns
• Not everyone has or wants regular access to internet or social media: Our goal is to provide a safe and accessible space for everyone, while encouraging a space for Anishinaabemowin on paper and online.

2. What’s the difference between news, opinion, and advertising?

• Newspapers don’t want their readers to be confused about what is news and what is opinion. Mistaking opinion or ads for fact-checked news journalism can affect whether or not our community/society is truly informed and adequately prepared to make decisions in their community
•  News – contains factual information reported by journalists. If they are responsible, well-trained journalists, they would have done research, verified facts, revealed the sources of their information and identified statements of opinion from those sources.
• Opinion – meant to supplement the news portion and provide for an exchange of ideas; 2 types: 1) Editorial – statements made on behalf of the newspaper itself; 2) Op-ed – guest columnists or submitted opinion pieces
• Advertising – may have minimal context of event or product, or updates of what the organization has going on or what is important to them; not independently verified or fact-checked, some legal or policy exceptions

3. How can I tell the exact difference between news and opinion?

• The page or piece is labeled with words like: opinion, editorial, reporter’s notebook, review, or analysis
• The text makes first-person statements like “I” and may follow it up with “believe” or “think”
• The tone is more personal, maybe with some sarcasm, exaggerations, or personal anecdotes

4. What is the difference between news writing and public relations writing ?

• News writing should be objective in tone, independent, with the purpose of presenting information to educate an audience about newsworthy events.
• Public relations writing/paid content advocates for the client/event/organization. It is informative, but the ultimate goal is to influence the public’s’ perception of the organization

5. What is the point of having advertisers from organizations? Why is this important ?

• This gives us the ability to generate revenue to be able to provide independent honorariums to our contributors for their work (writing, photography, or other multimedia pieces)
• By advertising in your local paper, you’re able to reach people that are in close vicinity to your business or events. You’re also integrating your business into the community by placing your ad among local news and events.
• Newspaper advertising is another venue for your message, not everyone is on Facebook and not everyone checks regularly
• You can put more information in a newspaper ad (i.e. pricing, phone number, website, storytelling etc.) people will be able to get a good look at it or keep on their fridge
• Can offer coupons 

Anything we missed?? Send us your questions to: naotkamegwanningnews@gmail.com or Facebook message us!